You’ll Never Want To Hit Snooze Again With This Morning Routine

Alain Saint-Dic, Health and Fitness Editor at 20something, brings over nine years of experience in the health and fitness industry. Though he studied pre-law, his love for the human body, it's adaptive ability and unlocking the largely untapped potential of human beings led him to pursue a passionate career in health, fitness, and athletics.

Being alert in the morning on any given day can be hit or miss. Some days you wake up and leap out of bed, ready to take on the challenges of the day. Other days you somehow plow through all 10 of alarms, snooze buttons included, simply because you’re too groggy to get up and stay up. That’s the trick isn’t it?

We can all get up, but staying awake is the hard part. Here’s ways to jumpstart your day to be alert all day.

“Pump, pump, pump it up!”

Getting your heart rate up and increasing your blood circulation are great ways to increase your alertness. Roll out of bed and do some jumping jacks, listen to a thrilling cinematic soundtrack, or maybe just roll out of your bed literally, but onto a cushioned floor — anything to get a quick jolt to catapult yourself into morning activities (not an excuse to bump coke in the AM hours though).

Kimmy Schmidt it — “You can stand anything for 10 seconds.”

Though it refers to how Kimmy managed to get through 15 years of captivity in a bunker, her statement holds truth when referring to life. Focus on staying awake for 10 seconds. Then count to another 10 seconds. Then swing a leg off the bed for another 10 seconds, then the the other leg…catch my drift? Live your wake up chronicles in 10 second intervals and you might find it more bearable.

Let there be light!

Natural light is your best option since your body responds to light and dark cycles. If you can’t commit to fully waking up, at least commit to getting up and drawing your curtains open. Now if you have a nocturnal work schedule and have to wake up in darkness, commit to walking around your apartment and flipping every single light switch on. This small activity will flood your space with light, alarm you about your electricity bill and hopefully get you moving.

Live a life of purpose

The happier you are to get your day started, the easier it is to wake up. Live your life in a way that makes you look forward to each day so much that you can’t bear the thought of staying in bed.

Get your 8 hours of sleep in every night

Self explanatory, the single most important way to increase morning alertness, is being well rested. Even if you’re not a morning person, getting a decent amount of sleep will make getting up so much easier.